Etymograph

English

daric

Daric comes from Old Persian *dariš ‘golden, yellow’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-1‘gleam, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Old Persianc. 600–300 BCE*dariš1‘golden, yellow’reconstructed
  3. Old Persianc. 600–300 BCE*darikah2reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδᾱρεικός2dāreikós
  5. Englishtodaydaric2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old Persian darikah
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English daric

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-Wiktionary, Old Persian darikah‘gleam, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Old Persianc. 600–300 BCE*darišWiktionary, Old Persian darikah‘golden, yellow’reconstructed
  3. Old Persianc. 600–300 BCE*darikahWiktionary, English daricreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδᾱρεικόςWiktionary, English daricdāreikós
  5. EnglishtodaydaricWiktionary, English daric

The story

Considered by classical authors to be from Δαρεῖος (Dareîos, “Darius”) who standardized the coinage as such, but this is a folk etymology.folk etymology The source marks this as unproven or a folk etymology. Quoted, not asserted.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘gleam, yellow’

gold, fell, yellow, gall, cholera, chlorine, felon, gullible, yolk, glib, choline, gild, zloty, chlorella, 26 more

Today it means

noun A gold coin from Persian Empire, introduced by Darius the Great (522-486 BC) and used until Alexander the Great's invasion (330 BC).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “daric”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old Persian darikah. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- / daric

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